Duke Energy coal plants closing early

Published: Friday, February 1, 2013 at 10:54 AM.

An 84-year-old coal plant in Gaston County will be shutting down permanently in two months.

Duke Energy announced today that it will be retiring the Riverbend Steam Station north of Mount Holly and the Buck steam station in Rowan County as of April 1.

Both steam stations will close two years ahead of schedule. Duke Energy planned to close both plants in 2015, according to a news release.

Open eight decades

Riverbend was built in 1929 and added new units to produce power in 1952 and 1954. Three units stopped operating as of 1979 and four smaller natural gas combustion turbines at the site retired last October. It sits on 353 acres bordering the Catawba River.

Riverbend has been operating infrequently recently as Duke Energy brought new, more efficient plants on board and saw the drop in natural gas prices. Merging with Progress Energy Carolinas also helped prompt the early retirement, according to a news release.

An 84-year-old coal plant in Gaston County will be shutting down permanently in two months.

Duke Energy announced today that it will be retiring the Riverbend Steam Station north of Mount Holly and the Buck steam station in Rowan County as of April 1.

Both steam stations will close two years ahead of schedule. Duke Energy planned to close both plants in 2015, according to a news release.

Open eight decades

Riverbend was built in 1929 and added new units to produce power in 1952 and 1954. Three units stopped operating as of 1979 and four smaller natural gas combustion turbines at the site retired last October. It sits on 353 acres bordering the Catawba River.

Riverbend has been operating infrequently recently as Duke Energy brought new, more efficient plants on board and saw the drop in natural gas prices. Merging with Progress Energy Carolinas also helped prompt the early retirement, according to a news release.

Duke Energy will try to find jobs within the company that match the skills of the 65 employees at both plants. Those that can’t find a job elsewhere at Duke Energy will receive severance pay, according to a news release.

Shutting down

Once Riverbend and Buck retire, Duke Energy will begin work to decommission the plants, Culbert said. The process can take years to decide the best future use.

“The long-term vision for retired units across our system is to return them to ground-level. We will salvage what equipment we can repurpose at other sites, conduct any environmental abatement needed, sell any scrap material we can, safely dismantle and remove the powerhouse, stack and any auxiliary structures no longer needed and then restore the site,” Culbert said via email. “This approach is best suited to ensure continued safety, security and environmental compliance at the site into the future, both for the company and the community.”

Duke doesn’t have plans to produce energy at those sites, though solar could be a future possibility, Culbert said.

Duke Energy paid $4.2 million in taxes to Gaston County in 2012, according to the Gaston County Tax Office. Duke will be paying less in taxes once the Riverbend plant goes offline, but the decreased tax value won’t kick in until 2014.

Keeping watch

Duke Energy is required to continue monitoring the groundwater at the Riverbend site, where there are two coal ash storage ponds.

Coal ash is produced when coal is burned at power plants and contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium and arsenic in addition to minerals like silicon, aluminum, iron and calcium. According to the EPA, those metals and minerals can leach into groundwater and drinking water sources and pose significant health concerns if proper protections are not taken.

The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation has been keeping an eye on Duke Energy plants along the Catawba River and Lake Wylie for years. Catawba Riverkeeper Rick Gaskin was pleased to learn the Riverbend would shut down ahead of schedule, but would continue to monitor any leaks from the coal ash ponds and water in reservoirs downstream.

“We are particularly concerned that Duke might propose to permanently leave the coal ash in the existing ash ponds on the banks of Mountain Island Lake, which would mean that the ash and continued seepage from the ash ponds will continue to pose a threat to drinking water supplies in the Charlotte area,” Gaskins said via email. “Even if the ash ponds were capped, we believe that there would be significant health risks from closing the ash ponds in place.”

Culbert said Duke Energy plans to close the coal ash basins in close coordination with state regulators once they are no longer needed.

“Engineering studies will inform how we propose to close the basins, and we will comply with all state and federal regulations,” Culbert said. “We are evaluating multiple closure options for the ash basins across our fleet to ensure we select methods that provide high water quality protection, while being as cost-effective as possible for our customers.”

You can reach reporter Amanda Memrick at 704-869-1839 or follow @AmandaMemrick on Twitter.